Shadows, Sunlight, and Sorcery
by thereareworsenames
Summary: Will Solace wakes up from a strange dream sending him to help his father. Nico di Angelo is given a personal request to hunt down some dangerous magic. The Triwizard Tournament is being held for the first time in centuries. All of these connect as a new prophecy is passed on, a fate is changed, and demigods come to Hogwarts.
1. Will 1

I. WILL

It takes Will a little while to realize it's a dream. He's used to having vivid dreams. It's an occupational hazard of being a demigod. He normally would have spotted it sooner. But honestly Will didn't want it to just be a dream. This was something Will had wanted as a reality for a little over five years, so he felt his lack of realization should be excused. After all love was known to make people a little blind.

He was sitting on top of the hill overlooking Camp Half-Blood. Will was leaned back against Thalia's pine tree enjoying the warm pleasant day and soaking up heat. It was like his Dad had decided he needed the perfect day. The sky clear and blue and the sun resting just a little past halfway in the sky, allowing for some shadows to relax in. Beside him was a more intimate, but just as comforting.

Will turned feeling lazy and indulgent to find Nico di Angelo sitting beside him close enough their legs pressed together. It was much closer than Nico would usually allow and Will felt a mixture of pride at being allowed into the other boy's fiercely protected personal space and a secret thrill at touching his long time crush.

The day was made even more perfect by the fact that Nico was grinning at Will in a warm, open way that the son of Hades almost never showed anyone. It was a strangely sweet expression and made the smaller teenager look younger, more like when he'd first arrived at camp in one of the most dramatic entrances ever. The sight of it made him feel like a dragon, greedy and protective over this rare, hard won treasure. It made Will want to collect and hoard more of Nico's smiles.

Then Nico's hand settled beside his own the fingers brushing along beside Will's own hand. Not exactly holding it, but the soft, cool brushes made Will feel like a miniature sun was in his chest warming and melting his insides.

Part of him was slightly embarrassed at his flowery thoughts, but most of his mind was too busy enjoying the moment. Nico di Angelo was smiling at _him_! Nico di Angelo was touching _him_ , for _non-medical reasons_!

Outside of the soft happy, glow around Will and Nico though he noticed a dark cloud had appeared on the horizon. Will looked away from Nico's smile to frown at the cloud. It made him feel cold. It was heading right towards camp, seeming to suck out the light from the areas it fell over making the grey and shadowed. When it hit the boundary instead of going around like it was supposed to it continued right on its way beginning to darken the valley.

The sight made Will's heart go cold and he saw it rapidly approaching Cabin 7 and he felt the cold slip inside it smothering the sun in his chest. Will didn't know what the cloud was, but he knew he couldn't let it get to the cabin. To his siblings. To the cabin representing his dad in camp.

Will moved to get up, but before he could Nico's hand grabbed his wrist in a strong, ice cold grasp. Will turned to the boy to find himself looking into pale green eyes.

All Will could think was how wrong that was. Nico had _brown_ eyes. A dark brown that would sometimes appear black, but when he was happy it was a warm, calming color.

Not-Nico's smiles turned sad.

" _The fall of the sun, the final verse._ " a voice sang out of Not-Nico, raspy and clearly feminine. Will wanted to scream.

The cloud fell over them and with it came winds, icy and fast stinging Will's unprotected face and arms. He's eyes watered and he wanted to look away, but in the gloom Not-Nico's eyes seemed to glow and kept him pinned in place as his vision blurred.

" _The fall of the sun, the final verse._ " the voice whispered again. This time though it echoed through the wind and came from all sides of Will. It was as if there was more than one Not-Nico and all of them were talking to Will at once.

It had grown so dark that all Will could see was the outline of familiar shoulders and alien eyes. The winds roaring picks up and Will realizes with a shiver of horror that he can hear screaming in the winds. Then he recognizes the source of the pain filled screams and his insides hollow out.

It's his Dad's voice.

Will recognizes the voice from Winter Solstice field trips to Olympus, the only time he'd ever really seen his father.

A rare thing among Apollo campers, who would usually at least have met their father once in dreams by the time they reached Will's age. Lee had met him in person twice before he died. Michael had received a bow personally from their Dad. Kayla had seen him after a choral performance at her school where he'd complimented her singing. All the campers had at least one story. Except Will.

It was horrifying to hear his father for the first time and for it to be him in obvious pain. Will felt chilled and terrified.

The green eyes in front of him begin to flash and Will sees images in them. Quick and gone almost as fast as they appear. A monstrous snake, poison green and unbelievably huge. A golden bow with the string snapped. A roughly, hewn wooden cup, holding a flickering blue fire. A magnificent old medieval castle glowing brightly in a starlit sky. The images seared themselves into Will's mind.

Not-Nico is suddenly too close mouth next to Will's ear. In it he whispers something to quiet to be heard over the wind, but Will does anyway.

 _Go to Tinworth in Cornwall, England. At 10:23am on August 5, you will find answers._ _GO NOW SON OF APOLLO._ The voice echoed in his mind as the cold froze him from inside out to the soundtrack of his father's screaming.

Will wakes up shaking with a scream lodged into his throat and a strong need to talk to Chiron.


	2. Will 2

II. Will

Sneaking out of Cabin 7 without waking up his siblings was fairly easy. While their cabin was known for waking with the sun, fall and winter was another story. The cabin's energy levels had a visible (at least to an Apollo camper) shift during the shortening days and they tended to sleep in a little later, a little lazy about rising just like their dad at this time of year. And when an Apollo camper was asleep it was near impossible to wake them up before the sun came up.

This allowed a little leeway for Will to get dressed and sneak out. It took him longer to dress than her should have. He kept dropping things his stomach in knots and the scream from the end of his dream echoing in his mind making him clumsy. When he finally managed to get his clothes on and outside the cabin his siblings were none the wiser, but he could see a familiar lightness begin in the very edge of the sky.

It didn't hold the same comfort that it used to.

The sun rising usually filled Will with a certain amount of warmth and recognition he associated with his father. But ever since the end of the war and the vanishing of the power of prophecy it hadn't felt the same. Sure there was a physical warmth that came with the day, but to him it felt colder, more impersonal. He'd talked to a few of his siblings and they'd had a similar feeling about it.

Their father wasn't in the sunrise anymore. If the screaming Will heard really was his dad than he might not physically be capable of doing it anymore.

Will's fingers twitched with the urge to heal. All he wanted to do was track done his reckless, fickle father and make sure he was alright. And maybe smack the teenage god in the head a little bit for worrying him.

His hands shook slightly as he made his way across the mostly quiet camp. The temporary legion housing was full yet again with their visit this week and Will spotted the flag of the Fifth Cohort hanging over the structure signalling which group was visiting from their sister camp this go round. Normally the site would have made Will smile. He liked the Fifth. They were a group of those who were a little odd and a little different. More importantly, to Will anyway, his favorite (or least favorite depending on the behavior of the day) patient made a point to be in camp during the Fifth's visits.

Will wished he was here. Nico was a lot of things, stubborn and completely incapable of taking care of his own health, but he was reliable when help was needed. Unfortunately, the son of Hades had been called in by his father a few days ago to help track down and escapee. Nico had already been gone longer than expected and during their last Iris message he'd told Will he'd try to be back within the week. Any comfort from Nico wasn't an option right now.

Will took the steps at the Big House entrance two at a time and reached to open the door feeling even more hurried now that he was almost at his destination.

If not for Hazel's quick reflexes he would have found himself face first on the Big House floor.

Will had always liked Hazel. The girl was young, but serious and responsible. They weren't very close, but after she'd realized he was becoming good friends with her brother she made it a point to talk to him whenever they see each other. Will concerned them to be sort of friend by this point and he enjoyed talking to her during their conversations. He'd actually managed to forget that the Fifth Cohort also meant Hazel would be here as the Centurion in charge of this week's exchange.

The girl smiled when she saw his face, but it fell the next second and her golden eyes grew concerned.

"What's wrong?" the younger (older) girl demanded seriously, not releasing her grip on his arm and looking prepared to drag him to Chiron herself or draw the spatha at her side depending on his answer. It was only seeing the look on Hazel's face that made Will realize how terrible he had to look. His hair was out of place from sleeping, the clothes he'd grabbed didn't exactly match with him being more concerned with getting to Chiron than looking presentable, and his hands would not stop shaking.

Will's throat went tight at the thought of explaining what he had seen, but before he could talk. Either to tell Hazel his dream or that he needed to tell Chiron he didn't know which. He heard the familiar sound of hooves heading towards them and for the first time since he woke up he felt some semblance of relief that only grew when Chiron's familiar face appeared in the doorway. His face went through the quick process of confusion to worry much like Hazel's had at Will's appearance.

"Will?" Chiron questioned his old gaze settling on the shaky teen. "What is it?"

Will took a shaky breath.

"I think my dad just sent me a vision."

3-

The explanations had gone pretty quickly after that. Hazel had followed Chiron and Will back inside and Will had quickly recounted his dream for them. He'd fudged the bit about being so close to Nico and explained it away as sitting with his friends rather than his crush. He knew Hazel was a nice girl and all, but he didn't exactly want to talk about what amounted to the "Most Epic Non-Existent Love Affair in History", as Cecil had so cleverly dubbed his crush on Nico, to the boy's sister. He might, just maybe, mentioned it it it was just Chiron. It didn't seem like the most relevant part of the dream anyway.

When he talked about the the dark cloud covering Cabin 7 and camp, his father's scream, the verse he'd heard, and the strange message he received he could feel the tension in the room build. Hazel's hand went to her sword as if seeking comfort from it and Chiron's face grew graver and greyer as Will continued on. By the end Will was tense again, but thankfully his hands had finally stilled. Chiron looked grimly thoughtful and Hazel looked concerned.

"We knew Apollo would be punished. Is this it? Why did it take a year for Zeus to go through with it?" Hazel questioned turning to Chiron respectfully, but searching. "He couldn't have really killed his son could he?"

Will sat frozen going over what Hazel said. Could his dad really be dead?

When Will had first come to camp when he was little he'd been a bit reassured by the fact his father was a god. Gods and goddesses in his mind couldn't be hurt or die. They were untouchable. The wars had taught him differently though. They could be touched. They could be hurt. They could even die as much as someone immortal could. That had been a bit of a blow to a bit of security Will had felt in his life, but amongst all the other loses he'd thought it a minor one. Now, after hearing Hazel's words, it felt like the worst betrayal. If Apollo died Will wasn't sure he would ever forgive the god.

Chiron looked almost as old as he had during the war when he spoke. "The last time Apollo angered Zeus this much he was cursed with servitude and that was only thanks to the pleading of Artemis and his mother Leto. Zeus may have taken his time this time around to think things through clearly, but we knew punishment was coming. How much Artemis would have been able to accomplish, especially without her mother around to help her is worrying."

That last part didn't sound quite right. "What do you mean? Leto was a goddess like dad and Aunt Artemis wasn't she?"

Chiron gave a small nod, but their was a clear reluctance in his face now. "It would be more correct to call her a titaness. Obviously, she sided with the gods during the first war, but in recent years she disapproved of how Zeus treated her children. She did not make the same choice during Kronos's second rise."

Will stiffened at the sentence. Perfect, his own grandmother had sided against them in the Titan War. Chiron seemed to sense his thoughts and sighed.

"Leto did not support Kronos, but she wasn't very helpful to the gods either offering support only to her children when they were in immediate danger." Chiron elaborated.

"She was neutral." Hazel piped in, not looking exactly pleased by this statement, but neither was she judgemental.

Chiron nodded.

"And Zeus punished her for it." Will said as he realized where this was going. It left a sour taste in his mouth when he said it.

Chiron nodded again not looking pleased. "That's correct. Before the Giant War, the twins were trying to argue for her release from Tartarus, and her imprisonment may have played at least a partial role in your father's decisions. As far as I know she's still there among our relatives."

Will felt sick at the thought. His grandmother hadn't really done anything to deserve that. True, she hadn't fought on the right side, but she hadn't exactly been opposing anyone. He'd heard very little about Tartarus during the year of friendship with Nico. The boy didn't like to dwell on it and was even more reluctant to talk about it than he was most other things. But Will had heard Nico during the nightmares he'd sometimes had during his infirmary stays. Will had heard about the bare basics of what he'd went through and he'd seen the scars that place had left on Annabeth and Percy. Will couldn't believe his grandmother deserved that. The thought made him freeze once more. Growing even more nauseous.

"Is that what happened to my dad?" Will questioned. "The screaming. Was that him being sent to Tartarus?"

The room was silent and Will could see he wasn't the only one distressed by the thought. He hadn't gotten the impression that Hazel liked Apollo all that much, heck Will wasn't sure he liked his dad all that much, but he was a little relieved to see she didn't look any happier about the idea than he did. She would be even more familiar with what exactly Tartarus truly meant than he was.

The shake of the head Chiron gave at that filled Will with a shaky sort of relief.

"No, I highly doubt your father would have even been able to send you a dream if he was there. While some may have the ability to speak form the pit. Apollo is not one of them. It is likely some other sort of punishment." Chiron decided after a moment of thought. He went still from his pacing and looked directly at Will, making him squirm a bit.

"We likely won't know what exactly has happened until you finish your quest." Chiron told Will, making him stiffen.

"Quest?" Will asked confused.

"Yes, it is not unorthodox to begin one with a dream. Though there will not be a prophecy for obvious reasons. It is clear to me that Apollo has given you a personal quest Will." Chiron turned to look at the calendar that hung in the room. "And one that requires you to leave immediately. You only have five days to get there and half a world to cross."

Will couldn't breath. His insides twisted up at the implications. A quest. His first quest. Will wasn't the hero that got quests. Especially not personal ones from his father. Will was a healer. He was the support of heroes like that. Heroes who were in stories like Achilles and Odysseus. Like Percy and Nico. With the exception of the occasional field trip to Olympus and what was demanded during the wars Will hadn't left camp since he'd arrived crying and confused at six. It had been eight years and the only camper with a longer record was Annabeth Chase, who'd broken hers when she'd left for New Rome with Percy Jackson.

Will's mind instantly went to a quiet house in the shade of an overgrown oleander far from town and close enough to the beach he would wake up to the smell of salt and heat and the soft sound of his mother singing. Will swallowed hard beating that image down.

"I accept." he found himself saying still shocked and more nervous than he'd been during two wars. More nervous than he'd been the day he'd moved into Cabin 7 terrified of the sudden influx of siblings. More nervous than he'd been the turbulent beginning three days of his friendship with Nico di Angelo. More nervous even than when he'd inconceivably been chosen to succeed Michael as Head Counselor and replaced Jackie Jay as Head Medic in the infirmary.

Chiron nodded and began to tell him his options to travel overseas as Hazel stared at him with undeniable concern.


End file.
